Transport in Cambodia
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[[Image:Khmer Transport.jpg|right|240px]]
War and continuing fighting severely damaged '''[[Cambodia]]'s transportation system''' — a system that had been inadequately developed in peacetime. The country's weak [[infrastructure]] hindered emergency relief efforts and created tremendous problems of procurement of supplies in general and of distribution. Cambodia received [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] technical assistance and equipment to support the maintenance of the [[transport network|transportation network]].
== Railways ==
* total - 603 km
* [[narrow gauge railway|narrow gauge]] - 603 km 1000 mm gauge
Cambodia had two rail lines, both originating in [[Phnom Penh]], totaling about 612 kilometers of single, one-meter-gauge track. The French built the first line, which runs from Phnom Penh to [[Poipet]] on the Thai border, between 1930 and 1940 (Phnom Penh Station opened in 1932) the final connection with [[Thailand]] has been done by Royal State Railways in 1942. However, the service from [[Bangkok]] to [[Battambang]] was suspended on [[December 17]], [[1946]] -> the day [[French Indochina|French Indochinese]] Government resumed sovereignty over Battambang and the [[Sisophon]] area. (Thailand was seen as a supporter of [[Khmer Issarak]], the anti-French, Khmer nationalist political movement.)
Assistance from [[France]], [[West Germany]], and the [[People's Republic of China]], between 1960 and 1969, supported the construction of the second line which runs from Phnom Penh to [[Sihanoukville]] at the southern coast to cut down the reliance on [[Saigon]] Port of [[Vietnam]] and [[Khlong Toei]] Port of Thailand. Rail service ceased during the war but resumed in the early 1980s. [[Guerrilla]] activities, however, continued to disrupt service.
However, the service between Phnom Penh to Battambang has been reduced from daily to weekly service due to the lack of funds to maintain the tracks and [[rolling stock]] .... even the new [[diesel-electric]] [[locomotive]]s from China cannot run on the tracks due to the dilapidated condition. Derailing of trains in operation are not infrequent.
=== Railway links with adjacent countries ===
* {{flagicon|Thailand}} [[Transportation in Thailand|Thailand]] - yes - suspended - same gauge 1000 mm
* {{flagicon|Laos}} [[Transportation in Laos|Laos]] - no - same gauge 1000 mm - indirectly via Thailand
* {{flagicon|Vietnam}} [[Transportation in Vietnam|Vietnam]] - no - same gauge 1000 mm
=== Maps ===
* [http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/cambodia.pdf UN Map]
=== Timeline ===
==== 2007 ====
* [[ADB]] and [[OPEC]] agree to lend $80m for {{flagicon|Thailand}} [[Poipet]] to {{flagicon|Cambodia}} [[Sisophon]] link with completion in 2010. <ref name = "znjgds"> [[International Railway Journal]] December 2007 p4 </ref>
* $500m is needed for another 254km link from {{flagicon|Cambodia}} [[Phnom Penh]] to {{flagicon|Vietnam}} [[Loc Ninh]]. <ref name = "znjgds"/>
==== 2006 ====
[[Image:Remorque.jpg|right|300px]]
* [[Trans-Asian Railway]] network planned -<ref>http://english.vietnamnet.vn/social/2006/03/550229/</ref>
* Link proposed {{flagicon|Thailand}} [[Poipet]], [[Thailand]] to {{flagicon|Cambodia}} [[Sisophon]], [[Cambodia]]
* Malaysia offer to donate rails and sleepers to Cambodia, to help them complete the missing links, which would be of value to all countries in the vicinity.
* 17 November 2006 - To complete a missing link in the Singapore-Kunming rail route, Malaysia has donated rails to Cambodia which will be used to connect [[Poipet]] to [[Sisophon]] (48 km).<ref>[http://www.railwaygazette.com/news_view/article/2005/04/2381/intelligence-14.html Intelligence] [[Railway Gazette International]] April 2005</ref> According to Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy, the rail was lifted from the old Rawang-Ipoh section where a new electrified double line has been built. A link between Cambodia and Vietnam including a crossing of the [[Mekong River]] is still required. The completed Singapore-Kunming line is expected to promote increased trade with China.
* 16 December 2006 - The [[Asian Development Bank]] is advancing a loan together with the donation in kind of rails from [[Malaysia]] will see restoration of the link with [[Thailand]].
=== Cities served by rail ===
* [[Poipet]] - on border with Thailand
* [[Sisophon]] - district capital
* [[Battambang]] - provincial capital
* [[Moung Ruessei]] - district capital
* [[Pursat]]- provincial capital
* [[Phnom Pehn]] - national capital - port on [[Mekong River]]
* [[Takeo]] - provincial capital
* [[Sihanoukville]] - port and provincial capital
=== Bamboo Railway ===
The '''bamboo railway''' as it is known to overseas visitors, "nori" or " "lorries" as it is known to locals is a popular form of transport in the North west of the country near [[Battambang]]. The trains consist of a [[bamboo]]-covered platform and two detached [[axle]]s with wheels. They run on regular tracks and are powered with [[Briggs & Stratton]] type [[air-cooled]] [[Internal combustion engine|gasoline engine]]s, adapted from portable [[electricity generator]]s. Power is transmitted by belt and [[pulley]]. Trains can reach up to 40 km/h. When meeting traffic in the opposite direction, passengers are expected to lift the platform and axles off the tracks to let the other "train" pass.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5110236.stm</ref>
==Highways==
* total - 35,769 km
* paved - 17884 km
* unpaved - 17884 km (2006 est.)
[[Image:Road 4 to Sihanouk.JPG|thumb|left|300px|[[National Highway 4 (Cambodia)|National Highway 4]]]][[Image:National highway number 1.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[National Highway 1 (Cambodia)|National Highway 1]]]]
Of the current total, only about 50 percent of the [[road]]s and [[highway]]s were covered with [[asphalt]] and were in good condition; about 50 percent of the roads were made of crushed stone, [[gravel]], or improved earth; and the remaining approximately 30 percent were unimproved earth or were little more than tracks. In 1981 [[Cambodia]] opened a newly repaired section of National Route 1 which runs southeast from [[Phnom Penh]] to the Vietnamese border. The road, which suffered damage during the war years, was restored most probably by Vietnamese army engineers. In the late 1980s, Cambodia's road network was both underutilized and unable to meet even the modest demands placed upon it by an unindustrialized and [[agrarian|agriculture]] society (see fig. 8.). Commercial vehicles, such as trucks and [[bus]]es, were insufficient in number and lacked the [[spare part]]s necessary to keep them running. Road construction and maintenance were ignored by a financially hard-pressed government, while [[insurgent]]s regularly destroyed [[bridge]]s and rendered some routes unsafe for travel.
Cambodia is upgrading the main highways to international standards and most are vastly improved from 2006. Most main roads are now paved. And now road construction is on going from the [[Thailand]] border at [[Poipet]] to [[Siem Reap]] ([[Angkor Wat]]).
[[Image:Cambodia gas station.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[Filling station|Gas station]] on the road from the Thai border to [[Siem Reap]]]]
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! National Highway !! Code !! Length !! Origin !! Terminal
|-
|'''[[National Highway 1 (Cambodia)|National Highway 1]]''' || 10001|| 167.10 km ||[[Phnom Penh]] ||[[Vietnam]] Border
|-
| '''[[National Highway 2 (Cambodia)|National Highway 2]]''' ||10002|| 120.60 km ||[[Phnom Penh]] ||[[Vietnam]] Border
|-
| '''[[National Highway 3 (Cambodia)|National Highway 3]]''' ||10003||202.00 km || [[Phnom Penh]] ||[[Veal Rinh]]
|-
| '''[[National Highway 4 (Cambodia)|National Highway 4]]''' ||10004||226.00 km || [[Phnom Penh]] ||[[Sihanoukville]]
|-
| '''[[National Highway 5 (Cambodia)|National Highway 5]]''' ||10005||407.45 km ||[[Phnom Penh]] ||[[Thailand]] Border
|-
| '''[[National Highway 6 (Cambodia)|National Highway 6]]''' ||10006||416.00 km || [[Phnom Penh]] ||[[Banteay Meanchey]]
|-
| '''[[National Highway 7 (Cambodia)|National Highway 7]]''' ||10007 ||509.17 km ||[[Skon Veun Sai]] ||[[Laos]] border
|-
| '''[[National Highway 11 (Cambodia)|National Highway 11]]''' ||10008 || 90.00 km || [[Neak Leung]] ||[[Thnal Totoung]]
|-
|}
==Waterways==
[[Image:Old man on tonle sap.jpg|thumb|right|300px|An elderly Khmer man on the [[Tonle Sap]]]]
The nation's extensive inland [[waterway]]s were important historically in domestic trade. The [[Mekong]] and the [[Tonle Sap River]]s, their numerous tributaries, and the [[Tonle Sap]] provided avenues of considerable length, including 3,700 kilometers navigable all year by craft drawing 0.6 meters and another 282 kilometers navigable to craft drawing 1.8 meters. In some areas, especially west of the Mekong River and north of the Tonle Sap River, the villages were completely dependent on waterways for communications. Launches, [[junk]]s, or [[barge]]s transport passengers, [[rice]], and other food in the absence of roads and railways.
According to the Ministry of Communications, Transport, and Posts, Cambodia's main [[ferry]] services crossing the [[Bassac River]] and the middle Mekong River at [[Neak Leung]] , [[Tonle Bet]], [[Sre Ambel]], [[Kampong Cham (city)|Kampong Cham]], and [[Stoeng Treng]] were restored in 1985. The major Mekong River navigation routes also were cleared for traffic.
==Seaports and harbors==
[[Image:Ferry Nheak Leoung.jpg|thumb|left|320px|A ferry taking vehicles and passengers across the [[Mekong]] to [[Neak Leung]] town]]
Cambodia has two major ports, Phnom Penh and [[Sihanoukville]], also known as Kampong Som, and five minor ones. Phnom Penh, located at the junction of the [[Bassac River|Bassac]], the Mekong, and the Tonle Sap rivers, is the only [[river port]] capable of receiving 8,000-ton ships during the wet season and 5,000-ton ships during the dry season. It remains an important port for international commerce as well as for domestic communications.
Sihanoukville port reopened in late 1979. It had been built in 1960 with French assistance. In 1980 some 180 Soviet dockworkers, having brought with them forklifts and trucks, were reportedly working at Kampong Som as longshoremen or as instructors of unskilled Cambodian port workers. By 1984 approximately 1,500 Cambodian port workers were handling 2,500 tons of cargo per day. According to official statistics, Sihanoukville had handled only 769,500 tons in the four prior years (1979 to 1983), a level that contrasted sharply with the port's peacetime capacity of about 1 million tons of cargo per year.
==Merchant marine==
* total - 211 [[ship]]s ({{GRT|1,000|first=yes}} or over) totaling {{GRT|953,105}}/{{DWT|1,345,766|metric|first=yes}}
* ships by type - [[bulk carrier]] 20, [[cargo]] 166, combination bulk 1, [[container ship]] 5, [[livestock carrier]] 2, multi-functional large load carrier 1, [[passenger ship]]/cargo 1, [[oil tanker|petroleum tanker]] 2, refrigerated cargo 7, [[roll-on/roll-off]] 6 (1999 est.)
* note - a [[flag of convenience]] registry; includes ships of 8 countries: [[Aruba]] 1, [[Cyprus]] 7, [[Egypt]] 1, [[South Korea]] 1, [[Malta]] 1, [[Panama]] 1, [[Russia]] 5, [[Singapore]] 1 (1998 est.)<ref>http://port.sihanoukville-cambodia.com</ref>
==Airports==
17 (2007)
<!-- Unsourced image removed: [[Image:Phnom_Penh_International_Airport.PNG|thumb|Phnom Penh International Airport]] -->
The country possesses twenty-six [[airfield]]s, of which only thirteen were usable in the mid-1980s. Eight airfields had permanent-surface runways. [[Pochentong International Airport]] near Phnom Penh is the largest airport; it also serves as the main base for the renascent [[Cambodian Air Force]] (see Kampuchean, or Khmer, People's Revolutionary Armed Forces, ch. 5). Cambodia opened a new Soviet-built airfield at Ream near Kampong Som in late 1983, which never saw commercial air traffic until now. There are additional secondary airports in [[Siem Reap]] and in [[Battambang]].
[[Air Kampuchea]] was established in 1982 and flew only one route-- from Phnom Penh to [[Ho Chi Minh City]] in Vietnam. In 1984 commercial air service was inaugurated between Phnom Penh and [[Hanoi]] with the arrival at [[Hanoi International Airport]] of the Kampuchean Civil Aviation Company's (AKASCHOR) first flight. Since then, there has been regular air service from Phnom Penh to Hanoi, [[Vientiane]], and [[Moscow]].
=== Airports - with paved runways ===
<br />''total:''
6
<br />''2,438 to 3,047 m:''
2
<br />''1,524 to 2,437 m:''
2
<br />''914 to 1,523 m:''
2 (2007)
=== Airports - with unpaved runways ===
<!-- Unsourced image removed: [[Image:Siem_Reap_International_Airport.JPG|thumb|Siem Reap International Airport New Terminal]] -->
<br />''total:''
11
<br />''1,524 to 2,437 m:''
1
<br />''914 to 1,523 m:''
9 (2007)
'''[[Heliport]]s:'''
1 (2007)
==See also==
*[[Cambodia]]
*[[Phnom Penh International Airport]]
== External links ==
* [http://port.sihanoukville-cambodia.com/ The SihanoukVille Port]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5110236.stm Cambodians ride 'bamboo railway' ]
* [http://www.globalcitizen.co.uk/travels/cambodia/cambodiantrains.html Video, photos and travel diary of Cambodia's trains by traveller Tom Grundy.]
* [http://www.sihanoukville-cambodia.com/about-sihanoukville/airport.html The Sihanoukville Airport]
*[http://cambodiaportal.com/index.php?mymenu=destinations&submenu=nationalroadnetwork&ext=Y&submenutitle=National%20Road%20Network National highways]
== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{CIAfb}}
{{Asia topic|Transport in}}
[[Category:Transportation in Cambodia|*]]